Trust - Testator by her will created a trust to be funded by her life insurance proceeds where she expressed the clear intent in her will that her granddaughter should serve as the "executor" of her "insurance" and she outlined in great detail how the life insurance proceeds should be administered and distributed - a trust may be created without the specific words of "trustee" or "trust" so long as the will evinces a clear intent to create a trust.

Later Discovered Will - Where appellants seek to open a decree of the Register of Wills to admit a later discovered will, they have the burden of proving that the later will was properly executed after the will was admitted - An undated will is not per se invalid

Waiver/Objections - Appeal of adjudication of incapacity and appointment of guardian should be quashed where appellant failed to object either with written objections or by appearing at the hearing to oppose such adjudication-A review hearing was the appropriate, more expeditious procedure to challenge the adjudication and it would have been scheduled if requested

Power of Attorney - Petition to remove Agent designated in a Power of Attorney was denied where the Principal failed to appear at the hearing to testify and the testimony of the person seeking to remove the Agent lacked credibility.

Executor/Removal - Creditor of an executor, personally, did not have standing to seek his removal as executor where creditor had no claim against the decedent’s estate and the decedent's will contained a spendthrift provision

Beneficiaries/Stock - An Option to Purchase/Restrictive Covenant Agreement requiring stockholders who wished to sell their stock to first offer it to the other stockholders in the family corporation and then to the company but did not impose this requirement on spouses or lineal descendants did not render lineal descendants owners of the stock

Beneficiary/Life Insurance - Where claimant of decedent's life insurance benefits failed to present proof of his designation as required by the policy, the decedent's parents were entitled to those benefits under the policy's default provisions

Wrongful Death Forfeiture - This case involves a parent's right to receive a share of their child's estate when the other parent accuses them of forfeiture. The Court held that forfeiture under 20 Pa.C.S.A. §2106(b)(1) is found even though the mother of the child tells the father that the child is not his when the father takes no additional steps to determine paternity.

Existence of a Gift - Transfers were made from Decedent's checking account following her death. Transferee claimed these transfers were gifts. Court found transferee failed to demonstrate the elements of intent and delivery required for a gift and money belonged to decedent's estate.

Forfeiture of Wrongful Death Proceeds - No forfeiture by father of decedent where Petitioner had failed to demonstrate that the adult decedent was a dependent or that the father of decedent had failed to support or deserted the decedent upwards of a year prior to her death.

Non-profit Corporation/Charitable Purposes - The proposed lease by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia with a third-party cemetery company to maintain and operate thirteen Archdiocesan cemeteries did not constitute a diversion of property from its charitable purpose

Joint Accounts - Money transferred from decedent's joint checking account while decedent was alive was ordered to be paid back to the estate upon the finding that the money in the account was solely contributed by decedent. Per 20 Pa.C.S. § 6303(a) a joint account belongs in life to the parties in proportion to their contribution. / IRA Proceeds: partially completed change of beneficiary form discovered after death did not negate the distribution of the proceeds as dictated by decedent's will.

Trust/Standing - The executor of his mother's estate lacked standing to obtain books and records of charitable foundations that she founded together with her husband as trustees where she signed an amendment of the trust document that gave her husband authority to amend the trust document and he subsequently removed her as trustee – The executor cannot obtain an accounting from the trust where the trust document states that no accounting was required unless the original trustee insisted on one.

Simultaneous Death - Where insured and beneficiary on a life insurance policy died and there is not sufficient evidence as to the priority of death the proceeds of the policy were distributed as if the insured had survived the beneficiary. Fire insurance proceeds for both real property and personal property were split equally between tenants in common where both died simultaneously. Although no full homeowner's insurance policy could be produced, both of the tenants in common made payments on the mortgage, lived in the residence and made payments on the fire insurance policy out of a joint account.

Petition for Allowance - The case involves a request that payment be made to a Guardian of an Incapacitated Person in the form of an encumbrance of the Incapacitated Person's home. The Court held that it was not in the best interests of the Incapacitated Person because of the Incapacitated Person's age and previous encumbrances to the property that were already granted.

Appeal - An appeal by decedent’s husband of an order that she was domiciled in Philadelphia at the time of her death did not deprive the court of jurisdiction to consider other petitions filed after that ruling - The ruling on domicile was neither a final order nor an interlocutory order appealable as of right

Trustee Resignation - The case involves whether a Trustee effectively resigned from his post and whether he could be surcharged for activities that occurred after the alleged resignation. The Court held that, despite minimal defects, the resignation was effective and no surcharge was warranted.

Declaratory Judgment - The case involved a dispute between members of a local and national organization. The Court held that the national organization did not have the authority to take over the local organization's property and finances because there was no history of strict adherence to the national organizations' rules throughout the 100 years of the local organization's history.

Standing to Compel Accounting – Petitioners lacked standing to compel an accounting of a trust where they failed to assert that they were trust beneficiaries, creditors or another party with a substantial interest in the trust – Petition to compel trust accounting denied when it sought an accounting by the attorney who drafted the trust document rather than from the named trustee

Revocation of Letters by Register - Where the grant of letters of administration by the Register of Wills is appealed, the scope of review by the Orphans’ Court is limited to abuse of discretion – Register did not abuse his discretion by revoking letters where the administrator failed to acknowledge other potential intestate heirs- Under Pennsylvania law, Register has authority to determine paternity for purposes of granting letters – A ruling as to a fiduciary is not tantamount to a ruling as to distribution

Power of Attorney – Agent was ordered to return $433,518 to the guardian of her principal where she made gifts to herself and her husband not specifically authorized by the power of attorney document – Agent acted unwisely by making payments to her husband for work not yet performed - Agent improperly paid herself fees that were prohibited by the power of attorney document

Forfeiture under Wrongful Death - The case involved whether a parent can be deemed to have forfeited a child for the purposes of recovering from the child's estate when that parent was incarcerated during the last year of the child's life and whether visiting a child in a coma was enough to establish support for the purposes of the statue. The Court held that the legislature likely did not intend to toll the forfeiture statute for the time a person is incarcerated and that the child's awareness of the support determined whether the parent performed their duty to support.

Removal of Co-Executors and Co-Trustees – Where Co-Executors and Co-Trustees admitted that they had failed to transfer decedent’s business interests to the estate, they conceded a “failure to perform a duty imposed by law” and were properly removed under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3182 – Where the hostility among Co-Trustees and Co-Executors prevented the administration of the trusts and estates removal of the fiduciaries was necessary

DPW Payments Without Consent – Petition by attorney to “disgorge” payments to DPW made without the consent of the Administratrix of the decedent’s estate or without the court ordered approval by Orphans’ Court is denied - Attorney acted beyond his implied or apparent authority in tendering DPW payments